A user equipment (UE) may be configured to establish a connection with a network. For example, the UE may be a mobile device that utilizes a wireless communication protocol. During the connection with the network, the UE may execute an application in which data, such as voice data, is transmitted from the UE to the network. The transmission of the voice data may be scheduled to be successfully received by the network.
To schedule a transmission, the UE may transmit a scheduling request (SR) to the network. In response, the network may transmit an uplink grant to the UE. The uplink grant may indicate when the data is to be sent as an uplink transmission. Subsequently, the UE may send the data to the network at the time indicated by the uplink grant.
During the connection with the network, the UE may be configured with a specification or schedule that includes a set of active processing time periods and a set of available sleep time periods. For example, the UE may be configured with a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) cycle that includes onDurations during which the UE is configured to perform operations that enable the UE to receive data that may be transmitted to the UE. During a C-DRX cycle, when an onDuration is not scheduled, the UE has an opportunity to enter a sleep mode and conserve power.
When the UE transmits the SR outside of an onDuration, the UE may then remain active to perform operations that enable the UE to receive data (such as a response to the SR) that may be transmitted to the UE during a period of time that was originally scheduled to be an opportunity for the UE to sleep. This increases the active processing time of the UE and consequently, the amount of power consumed by the UE. For example, when a UE transmits a SR outside of an onDuration, the UE may perform operations that enable the UE to receive data to detect a grant that may be transmitted to the UE prior to the commencement of the next onDuration. However, waiting for the grant in this active state utilizes power during a period of time where the UE has an opportunity to sleep based on the C-DRX cycle. Further, this causes power to be consumed by the UE during instances where the UE is not receiving any data from the network.